Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1887-09-23
NEW VOL. 23-NO. 2.

was much less in so than In 1901. lne
only Increase in cost Is in the use OF the
commercial fertilizer. which increase
is not equal TO the reduction on other
items. The judgment of those best
qualified 10 speak, and who have thor
oughly investigated this subject, Is, that
the cost of production is less to-day than
it was in 1850. The difficulty does not
arise in the increased cost, but in the
reduction of the price when it falls as
low as it has this year.
Think it may be fair to say that from
the date of cutting the crop TO the first
OF January, the average price of wheat
at the home market will not exceed IS
cents per bushel. This, with yield of
l6 bushels, would be equivalent to sl2
per acre; which, although not Il very
profitable crop, would certainly not
bring the farmer in debt. In consider
ing, however, this question, it may be
asked, Can the price Of wheat be con-
trolled by Legitimate governmental
action, except so far as the cost Of trans
portation affects the price, or by other
than natura! causes?' Ny Examination
and reflection compels me TO answer
this question in the negative. What
fixes or determines the price of wheat?
1t is not so much the supply and de.
mand for the article in the United States
which regulates its value, and for this
reason, the production Of wheat in the
United States Is far in excess Of the
home demand; when that Is the case,
the foreign demand enters into and be-
come controlling elemen. in determin-
ing the value of the article. Since the
development OF the telegraph, the appli-
cation of steam to inland and ocean
transportation, the substitution Of the
screw propeller for the side-wheeler,
the modern construction of freight car
rying vessels, the surplus product of
the world is brought directly into COM
petition with our own product, and
when this surplus is aggregated, and
found greater than the demand, the
question then is, from what point OF
shipment to the country importing can
the article be procured at the lowest
price.
We have TO compete against an aver
age annual surplus OF other wheat grow
ing countries of $50, 100000 bushels,
which, added to our own export of $780,
304 ISL bushels, makes the annual sur
plus in those countries that export
wheat, 330, 1904 ISL bushels. The demand
for this surplus will, by the fixed laws
of trade, not only determine the value
of the article for export, but also the
price for home consumption.
The practice Of mixed farming being
essential to the highest condition Of
agriculture, our farmers must not bc.
come discouraged when the yield per
acre fails to equal the general average,
or the price temporarily is not such as
to make it profitable crop.
Our lands are of that character that
would never be successful did
we omit wheat from the crops raised In
this valley. We, to-day, ia the counties
Of Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan,
raise within a fraction one-fourth OF the
wheat product of our State, and no
country, even on the banks OF the Ohio,
equals yours in the number Of bushels
Of corn produced.
We can not change the fixed and un-
bending laws of trade and commerce,
but it is within our power 10 direct and
control intelligently those agencies
which a beneficent Creator has placed at
our disposal.
Let the farmers OF Jefferson county,
by system OF conservative experiment,
by keen observation Of their own and
Of their neighbor's methods Of cultiya-
tion, by the personal interchange Of
views; by earnest and intelligent study
Of the system Of cultivation and fertiliz-
ing adopted by the most enlightened
and practical farmers of other states
and counties; by utilizing everything,
both at the house and stable, having the
fertilizing qualities necessary for the
land, and by warm and enthusiastic
of all such assemblies and exhi-
bitions as we behold in this beautiful
grove, so improve the husbandry Of our
valley, that at least fair profit may be
realized in the production Of wheat.
Prior to the Revolution, there were
no means by which the farmer could
obtain knowledge Of experiments made
In agriculture, Of the individual expert
ence Of other agriculturIsts, or by which
Information acquired by travel or obser-
vation could be disseminated and diffus-
ed among the people. But as the sun
Of freedom burst in all its refulgen.
glory upon the weakened colonies, and
The patriotic impulses of new nation
gradually threw of the shackles with
which the traditions, the customs, and
The habits Of the mother country had
bound her citizens. the individuality,
reliance, and independence,
which are characteristics Of the Ameri-
can farmer, asserted itself In the effort,
10 perfect plans, to advance and i'm.
prove their condition. This took form
IN the organization Of agricultural asso-
Citations, beginning in South Carolina in
1855, and gradually extending to all the
other States. The objec. declared in the
formation of these societies was TO
arouse the slumbering energies OF the
people, and, by exhibitions, discussions
and the circulation Of agricultural liter
ature, educate the farmers to a higher